A Letter from Tad Stout....
Dear
Ernest G. Small Association:
Here's the skinny on my dad's life since leaving
the Navy after the
Gulf of
Tonkin incident:
Dad grew up on the family farm in
Wiggins, Colorado. After high school, he
immediately enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Shortly
after leaving the Navy, he spent a month in
Hawaii fishing with a beer-drinking monkey named
Pepé (yes, I've seen pictures!). He
returned to Colorado for a few months, and then
found himself in Las Vegas, Nevada. He and his
brother started a small landscaping business,
which they worked during the daylight hours, as
they also worked at the burgeoning casinos at
night. My uncle eventually left Las Vegas, but
my dad stayed and dealt Blackjack at the tables
there for 6 years.
Dad dealt at The Sands,
The Mint, and was a
personal dealer for Mr.
Benny Binion. While dealing one evening,
my dad happened to overhear a man from Colorado
stating that he needed a loan for a return plane
ticket because he had lost it all at the
blackjack tables. Dad ended up giving the man --
a 'Bruce Ruth' of Greeley, Colorado -- a loan.
Mr. Ruth turned out to be the owner of what
would later become a world-famous establishment
for Rocky Mountain oysters:
'Bruce's Bar' of
Severance, Colorado.
Mr. Ruth ended up offering my Dad a position
at 'Bruce's Bar' as
its manager. As bar manager, Dad ended up
designing the menus, and helped Bruce start up a
goose-hunting business full time in the Rocky
Mountain winters. Mom ended up being a waitress
at Bruce's where
they met, and eventually were married in 1976.
Bruce and Dad ended up bringing a bit of Vegas
back to Colorado and Dad dealt back-room games
at the bar quite frequently. I was born in 1976,
my sister in 1977, and Dad quit the bar in 1979
after many long years of smoking, drinking, and
the heavy stress of being a bar manager.
After leaving the bar business, my Dad
became a handyman/contractor which, as it turned
out, he was very good at. He supported the
family while Mom returned to school to study
Nursing. In 1984, Dad suffered a massive heart
attack, which ultimately killed the lower half
of his heart, primarily because he waited too
long to visit he doctor. Amazingly, after only
several weeks of down time, he went back to
working as a handyman and acquired a partner
that he worked with until 1999-2000.
The doctors told Dad that he would be lucky
to live but 5 more years. Well, doctors don't
know everything, because Dad is still alive and
kicking! Mom received her Nursing Degree and
began her new career in 1993, as Dad started
slowly backing away from working altogether. Now
he works with me running my own business, the
Good Times Guide
Service. We provide professional
guides for hunting and fishing trips throughout
Northern Colorado, and run a summer aqua-culture
business as well. Dad's hobbies are farming,
gardening, fishing & hunting.
My sister, Cynde, is also a nurse and lives in
Savannah, Georgia; her husband Kris is an Army
Ranger. They have one son and another on the
way.
I'm a professional Fisheries & Wildlife
Biologist and my wife, Julie, is a Kindergarten
Teacher. We don't have any kids, but plan on a
family some day.
I still recall a few of the stories that
dad used to tell me about his days in the Navy:
* Firing the 5-inch guns
at feral goats on Catalina island.
* Shooting Browning BARs
at the practice planes.
* The E.G. Small
hitting a whale and how red the water became
when the crew realized what had happened and
looked overboard.
* Blankenship shooting
50-cent pieces out of the air with a .22-calibre
pistol.
Well, that's about it! I'm sure you'll hear from
dad sometime (if he ever learns how to send
e-mail!) Email us anytime with questions, etc.
and I'll be happy to forward your messages!
Take Care!
- Tad Stout
